The mother of a victim of the 2017 Manchester Arena terrorist attack has spoken of forgiveness and positivity in the face of tragedy in a new feature-length documentary.
Figen Murray is the mother of Martyn Hett, who was one of 22 people killed when a bomb exploded at an Ariana Grande concert.
And while many people would be understandably filled with pain and rage, that is not how she chose to live her life after the atrocity that killed her son.
“I’m not just saying this because I’m his mother, but Martyn was one of the most positive people I’ve ever met, so me sort of crumbling under the weight of everything would’ve upset him, and I just didn’t want to do that,” says Murray who lives in Manchester with her husband and four children.
Murray is one of the contributors in A Manchester Story, a new feature-length documentary from first-time filmmaker Anton Arenko, 23.
Arenko shines the spotlight on how people reacted in the aftermath of the attack, and the positive actions that emerged through the horror.
There isn’t one image from the atrocity during the 90-minute film, which includes interviews with Adam Lawler and Eve Senior, who were both injured in the blast, as well as Petra Jordan and Cath Hill who set up the Manchester Survivors Group and Choir respectively, and Michael Cox who founded the memorial motorcycle ride.
“Anton’s a young man doing something really positive because he doesn’t want to focus on the sensational, negative, or shocking aspects of the attack. That’s not relevant at all in Anton’s film.
"He wants to show the opposite to everybody else and Martyn would’ve loved the fact he was doing something so positive. It felt like it was something Martyn might do,” says Murray whose resilience is remarkable but also necessary, she notes, not only for her own wellbeing but to honour Martyn’s memory.
“Hate breeds more hate and anger breeds more anger and I just don’t want to engage in that game. I feel it’s really important to break that cycle and go the opposite way, which is why I forgive the terrorist, and his brother [Hashem who’s been jailed for participating in the plot], and those who may have made mistakes,” she says, referring to the findings of a public inquiry opened in 2020 to investigate the deaths of the arena victims.
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For the last two years, Murray has been studying for a Master’s degree in counter-terrorism and regularly attends schools, colleges and conferences to talk about the impact of online radicalisation, and the need for tolerance and forgiveness in society.
She’s also campaigning for Martyn’s Law, a piece of legislation that will better protect the public from terrorism, particularly in crowded spaces, by requiring venues to improve their security.
“It’s going well. The public consultation has now come to an end and hopefully, in a few months, it will go to Parliament, although I don’t envisage anything happening in terms of the legislation coming to fruition until next year.
“Before Martyn died, I was an incredibly private person, and that’s completely gone the other way now.
"He’d think it’s completely hilarious that his mother is constantly on Twitter, and no doubt find it amusing that I’m out there doing these things in his name, but hopefully, he’d quietly feel quite proud about it as well.
“I couldn’t save him from what happened, but I’m now trying to be the best, strongest mother to him I can be. I can’t bring him back, but I can hopefully try, in his name, to stop other mothers and families going through the same thing.”
Find out more about Martyn’s Law on Twitter and Facebook . A Manchester Story is available to rent or buy on Vimeo from August 22.
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